


Learning From The Dead

by Raven_Mortem



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Ghost's, Mystery, Supernatural Elements, TARDIS - Freeform, Time Travel, Time War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:34:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27458053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raven_Mortem/pseuds/Raven_Mortem
Summary: (SPORADIC UPDATES)After waking up before a barn and being greeted by a curly-haired ghost Katrina's life changed forever.Encountering the Warrior and tripping into a well placed Time Vortex, Kat suddenly found herself in a world of aliens, time travel, and one very strange and complicated man.If she thought the dead were hard enough to handle, Kat had another thing coming.
Relationships: Ninth Doctor and OC, Tenth Doctor/OC
Comments: 5
Kudos: 10





	1. Prologue

Kat gasped as she sat up, her eyes shooting open.

She blinked a few times as she blearily looked around, trying to remember what had happened, only to grow confused when she found herself sitting in front of shabby looking barn.

Sand or dirt, Kat wasn’t to sure, ran between her fingers as she cupped some, finding it soft, but dry. As she slowly stood up, the red head noticed a set of footprints in the dirt, heading towards the barn, and as the young woman tried to look to where they had come from, she saw that they only faded into the distance.

Swallowing hard as she brushed herself off, Kat looked out at the desert that lay before her. The last thing she could remember doing was trying to help a....friend out, but something had happened. Her eyebrows creased as she tried to figure out how she got here, only to gasp and clutch her head as something that looked to be an obscure W shaped crack that seemed to be made up of a blinding white light flashed across her mind. 

The pain disappeared as quick as it had come and Kat let out a few short breaths, trying to calm herself. “What the hell was that?” she questioned between breaths, her eyes closing as her body began to relax. She slowly straightened and looked back to the desert, trying to figure out how she had gotten here. She knew that whatever happened however, that it had something to do with that crack.

“Hello, Kat,” a voice said from behind the young woman, causing her to turn on the spot. “It’s okay, I can’t hurt you,” a curly-haired blonde woman said.

“Do I know you?” Kat questioned, a frown tugging at her lips as she didn’t recognise the older woman in front of her, though it wouldn’t be the first time she had someone looking for her.

The woman shook her head with a small smile, “No.”

“But you know me,” Kat stated slowly as she tried to work out what was going on.

“That’s right,” the woman replied, right before the door to the barn was pulled open, passing straight through the blonde. Her form faded out of view before she reappeared beside Kat.

“....the most dangerous weapon in the universe,” an older man shouted as he made a weird gesture, causing Kat’s eyes to narrow at the action. Before she could do anything, the man slammed the door shut.

“Okay, then,” Kat breathed before glancing to the blonde, “So, your dead?” she asked casually, deciding that thinking of something she was use to was better than whatever she had just witnessed.

The blonde chuckled, “You always were straight to the point,” she said.

Kat just shrugged, although she couldn’t help but be a little curious about the blonde. It was the first time she had met a spirit seemed to know more than just her name.

The pair stood there for a minute in awkward silence before Kat looked to the blonde. “So....what’s the reason you’re here?” she asked.

“Helping out an old friend,” the woman replied vaguely.

“And this friend....” Kat said slowly as she eyed the blonde, “Did they know you’re name?”

“Of course they did,” the blonde remarked with a knowing smile.

“And that would be?” Kat continued to ask, raising an eyebrow.

“River,” the blonde said.

“Okay, then,” Kat nodded and looked back to the barn. After a moment, her eyes slid to River again, “Any idea who that guy was?” she questioned, still trying to figure out what was happening. If this was a new power, she was rather intrigued as to how it worked.

The smile on River’s face dropped a little. “At the moment, he has forgone his name. But I knew him as the Doctor,” she explained.

“Doctor?” Kat questioned, frowning slightly at the unusual name, “Doctor who?”

“Now, isn’t that the question,” River remarked, her voice holding her amusement. She looked away from Kat and to the barn. “I think we should go and say hello,” she said before walking towards the door.

Kat watched her for a moment before sighing, not having anything better to do. _Might even figure out what is going on,_ she thought as she followed after River. 

\---- 

Kat glanced to River after she knocked on the door to the barn, hearing the man on the other side. 

_“Stop calling me Doctor,”_ he snapped, causing Kat to raise an eyebrow, wondering who he was talking to. 

Before she could question River, the door opened to reveal the not-Doctor frowning at her. 

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” he demanded, looking Kat up and down. 

She was wearing a black coat over a simple black buttoned up shirt with dark blue jeans and a pair of lace-up boots. Her red hair that was streaked with black was up in a simple ponytail. 

“Eh....” Kat glanced to River and the woman motioned to the man, “I actually have no idea,” Kat admitted, looking back to the not-Doctor.

“Well, you should leave,” the man replied and closed the door, not giving Kat a chance to say anything more. 

The red head looked to River. “That went well,” she remarked, rather unsure as to what she was supposed to do now.

 _“If you have been inside my head, then you know what I’ve seen. The suffering. Every moment in time and space is burning. It must end, and I intend to end it the only way I can,”_ Kat barely heard the man inside the barn say.

“What exactly is going on?” she asked, turning to look to River, “And what the hell did he mean by time and space?” the red head continued, really starting to get a little overwhelmed at what was happening. “And ending what?” she added, feeling rather out of her depth. 

Dead people, she could handle, but she had had twenty years to get use to that. Whatever was happening here though, she felt as though she had been thrown into something very big. 

River didn’t answer her, only gestured to the door. “Try again,” she said. 

Kat frowned but looked towards the door, hearing the man on the other side, _“I have no desire to survive this.”_ She raised her hand and knocked again, feeling her curiosity perk at who he was talking to. The red head hadn’t heard anyone else, but she knew better than anyone that it didn’t mean that no one was there.

As she waited, she turned to River, “What is his name if he doesn’t go by Doctor anymore?” she asked, wanting to be able to actually call the man something other than not-Doctor in her mind.

“Warrior,” River replied with a small frown. 

“What’s up with the weird names?” Kat couldn’t help but ask, her nose wrinkling. First the Doctor, and now the Warrior. _What’s next, the Teacher?_ the red head thought.

“It’s a Time Lord thing,” River said with a shrug. 

“Time Lord?” Kat asked as the door opened. 

“What do you want?” the Warrior asked, seeming rather frustrated at the sight of the red head. 

River walked inside, passing straight through the man and Kat was rather surprised when the man shivered, almost if he had felt her. 

“Look, Warrior, or whatever your name is,” Kat started, having a fair idea by River’s actions that she needed to be inside. 

“How do you know my name?” the man cut her off, his eyes narrowing. 

“That is a rather complicated story,” the red head replied, glancing behind the Warrior and to River, noticing the blonde was gesturing her to continue. “But I have know idea where I am or what is going on,” she continued as she looked back to the man, “But my....friend told me that I needed to be here.”

The Warrior eyed Kat and she was certain he was going to just close the door on her face again, but was surprised when the man looked behind him and towards what looked to be a box with a clockwork-like design on it. She tore her gaze away from the box when the Warrior looked back to her.

“Come in,” he said, almost resignedly as he stepped aside, allowing Kat through the door.

Kat walked inside and headed towards River. The blonde may be dead, but Kat was using her presence as an anchor, still feeling a little overwhelmed with what was going on. She was getting the dreaded feeling that what ever was going on was not the effects of a new power.

The Warrior seemed to ignore Kat as he sat down, frowning at the clockwork box. Kat however, noticed that it wasn’t the box the man was looking at, but rather the space above it. If it wasn’t for the fact that his gaze seemed to follow something unseen to her, different emotions passing over his face as she watched him, Kat would have believed he was just staring off into space.

“I don’t know,” the man said out of the blue, though his face was very troubled, almost resigned. 

“Is there someone else here?” Kat whispered to River as she watched the man rather curiously. The red head jumped though, when a vortex appeared in the room. “What the hell is that?” she questioned, her heart pounding away in her chest.

“A time vortex,” River replied, just as a fez dropped through the portal.

“Uh huh,” Kat remarked, completely lost as to what was going on.

“Why don’t you have a look?” River said as the Warrior picked up the fez before looking towards the vortex, “You might find out why you’re here.”

“And why on Earth would I do that?” Kat questioned in disbelief, turning to the blonde. 

“Earth?” the Warrior spoke up, looking to Kat in confusion and surprise. 

“Oh, go on,” River said with a grin, “Where’s your sense of adventure?”

“Well, that disappeared when I woke up in a desert with no idea how I got here,” Kat remarked sarcastically, “There is no way I am going to touch a time vortex, or whatever the hell that thing is!” she continued, pointing at the vortex.

River just raised an eyebrow at Kat before she sighed, “Oh, you’re going to hate me for this,” she muttered and before Kat could do anything, she grabbed her hand.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Kat growled as she felt River trying to possess her. 

The Warrior watched on rather confused as Kat started moving around the barn, almost as if she was having a fight with herself. Her body jerked to the side and she seemed to grab thin air and tugged at whatever she was ‘fighting’. 

“How dare you!” Kat shouted as she tried to regain her balance, but she stumbled backwards and towards the vortex. 

“Watch out!” the Warrior exclaimed, but Kat disappeared through the vortex. He turned to the blonde who was sitting on the Moment, watching on with a raised eyebrow. “Where did she go?” he asked. 

“Where she was needed,” Bad Wolf replied vaguely, although her eyebrows were creased slightly.


	2. Killer Aliens

Kat dropped out of the vortex, letting out a grunt as she landed on the carpeted ground. She slowly got up, blinking rapidly as her eyes adjusted to the sudden darkness she found herself in.

The red head let out a groan as she stood up and stretched, barely being able to see that she was surrounded by what looked to be display cases. When she was finished stretching, she looked around, rather confused as to where she was or why she was there.

Kat had just noticed River and was about to say something when a wheezing sound cut through the silence. Kat jumped as she looked around, really starting to freak out a little at what was going on. Her eyes widened in alarm and surprise when a blue police box materialized out of thin air.

“What the fuck?!” she breathed, unable to take her eyes off the box.

“She’s called the TARDIS,” River said as she stepped up beside Kat, a fond smile on her face, “Time and Relative Dimensions in Space.”

The moment the TARDIS landed, the door opened and a man wearing a leather jacket and a young blonde woman stepped out. 

Kat blinked in surprise as the light disappeared when the man closed the door to the box, rather unsure how two people could fit inside such a small thing, or even how it had just appeared out of thin air.

“So, what is it? What’s wrong?” the young woman asked as she and the man looked around.

“Don’t know. Some kind of signal drawing the TARDIS off course,” the man replied.

“Where are we?” the blonde questioned.

“Earth, Utah, North America,” the man said as he walked around, “About half a mile underground.”

Kat frowned at what they were saying, finding the man rather odd. There was something about the leather wearing man, though. 

“It’s the same man,” River said, causing Kat to glance at her in confusion. The curly haired blonde just winked, “Spoilers.”

“And when are we?” the blonde continued to question, drawing Kat’s attention back to the two newcomers.

“Two thousand and twelve,” the man, or Doctor if River was correct, stated as he looked at a few of the display cases.

“God, that’s so close,” the woman breathed, “So I should be twenty-six.”

“What are they talking about?” Kat whispered to River as she continued to watch the pair, “And what did he mean by two thousand and twelve?” 

“Time travel,” River replied, causing Kat’s to look at her like she had grown another head.

One of the newcomers found a light switch and flicked it on, flooding the room with light.

“Blimey. It’s a great big museum,” the blonde exclaimed as she looked around.

“An alien museum,” the Doctor corrected, “Someone’s got a hobby....” he trailed off when he noticed Kat standing there, “Oh, hello,” he said cheerily, causing the red head to jump in surprise and look at him.

“Oh, eh, hello?” she said questionably, glancing at River who was trying not to laugh.

“Do you know where we are?” the Doctor asked curiously, noting that she spoke with an American accent. Though he couldn’t help but notice that Kat looked rather lost herself.

“I was rather hoping you might know,” Kat replied slowly, trying to gather some sort of sense to what was going on and not panic. 

She was starting to wish she was back home in bed instead of waking up in some random place, only to be thrown threw a vortex because a spirit tried to possess her, and then appearing in a supposed alien museum where a police box appeared out of thin air and two people walk out like it’s an everyday occurrence. And then to throw time travel on top, it was getting a bit too much for her to deal with.

“Are you okay?” the blonde questioned, seeing the red head pale. She looked to the Doctor worriedly, unsure as to what to do. The man in question took a few steps towards Kat, his expression concerned as she dropped to her knees.

“Kat, just breathe,” River said slowly as she knelt in front of the red head, “Deep breaths.”

“I....can’t,” Kat gasped out, shaking her head.

“Look at me and copy what I do,” the woman continued.

The Doctor watched on rather confused as Kat seemed to focus on something as she took deep breaths, recognising the signs that the red head was having a panic attack. When that finally registered in his mind, the Doctor was quick to advance, wondering if there was anything he could do to help.

Kat continued to copy River, feeling herself calm. She closed her eyes and took another deep breath, missing River quickly move away when the Doctor knelt before her.

“Hey, just breath,” the Doctor said as Kat continued to do just that.

“Is she okay?” the blonde questioned in concern as she approached.

“Just a panic attack, Rose” the Doctor replied as he scanned Kat with his sonic screwdriver, wanting to be certain that was the case, “She’ll be fine in a moment.”

Kat frowned when she heard a buzzing sound and opened her eyes, only to see the Doctor waving some silver device with a blue tip over her. “Hey, what are you doing?” she questioned, batting the device away with her hand.

River snorted as the Doctor held up the screwdriver, causing Kat to shoot her a glare. The Doctor frowned as he looked to where the red head had looked, but found nothing there. He looked back to Kat as he shook his head, “I was just checking to make sure you were all right,” he explained.

Kat eyed the Doctor and his sonic as River decided to have pity on her and explained it further for her. “It’s called a sonic screwdriver. Basically it is a multi-tool. Works on pretty much everything....except for wood and deadlocks,” she said.

“Why doesn’t it work on wood?” Kat questioned as she looked at the sonic, almost as if she had forgotten the Doctor was even there. She couldn’t help but wonder though. If it worked on everything, why didn’t it work on wood?

“What?” the Doctor asked, baffled by her sudden question. _How does she know it doesn’t work on wood?_ he asked himself, his eyes narrowing despite his curiosity.

“The, uh, sonic,” Kat answered, looking at the Doctor.

“And how do you know what it is?” he questioned.

Kat frowned, “You really want to know what I know?” she asked. When the Doctor nodded, she continued, “I woke up in some bloody desert before being thrown through some vortex thingy and then ended up here. I have no idea where I am, okay!” she told him, taking a few deep breaths to try and calm down.

The Doctor eyed her for a moment and seeing that she was calming down again, he spoke, “And yet you know what this is,” he said, holding up his sonic. He could clearly see the red head was stressed and her story sounded a little out there, but it didn’t explain how a human, one that he was certain he had never met before, knew what his sonic was and that it didn’t work on wood.

“Look, all I know is that I was helping a friend out and now I’m here after seeing some kind of....oh, I don’t know,” Kat groaned, completely lost at what had occurred, “It looked like some obscured crack emitting a blinding white light.”

The Doctor frowned as he stood up, helping Kat to her feet as well. “What’s your name?” he asked her, deciding that she was too overwhelmed at the moment to question further about what had happened. He was curious to know more about how she had just somehow appeared here through some vortex, as well as this obscure crack. 

“Katrina,” Kat said with a frown, “But I prefer Kat,” she added as she stepped away from the Doctor.

“Nice to meet you, Kat,” the Doctor said with a smile.

“Eh, nice to meet you to....” she trailed off, unsure what to call him or even if she should. He seemed to have turned a little defensive when she named his sonic.

“Doctor,” River and the Doctor said together.

“Right....” Kat nodded, sneaking a glance to River, only to find the curly haired blonde watching on with a smile. “What’s up with the usual name?” she asked the Doctor, wanting at least one of her questions answered.

The Doctor couldn’t help but frown, not getting his normal response to someone hearing his name. “I like it,” he said with a shrug.

“Uh huh,” the red head said, remembering how the not-Doctor....Warrior....whatever his name was, had said that he didn’t want to be called the Doctor. “So....” she said slowly as she looked around, knowing that right now she seemed calm, but Kat knew she was going to lose it sometime soon. “Any idea why I would have appeared in some kind of weird museum?” she asked the Doctor hopefully.

“Well, I was following a signal, but I don’t know why you would have ended up here,” he said, his eyebrows furrowing as he realised that there really wasn’t any plausible reason for her to be there.

“Figures,” Kat muttered as she began to walk around, looking at the items in the display cases as she tried to keep her cool. “Is that a meteorite?” she asked, pointing at one of the items.

The Doctor looked over to her and nodded, “Chunks of meteorite, moon dust,” he started listing off the items as he passed them, “That’s the milometer from the Roswell spaceship.”

“Really?” Kat asked as she moved towards the case the Time Lord had pointed to.

“That’s a bit of Slitheen!” the younger blonde exclaimed when she recognised something in one of the cases, “That’s a Slitheen arm,” her nose wrinkled in disgust, “It’s been stuffed.”

“What’s a Slitheen?” Kat whispered to River when she noticed the Doctor become distracted by something.

“Alien,” River replied simply, not giving anything more away.

“Oh, look at you,” the Doctor spoke up as he stared at one of the displays.

Kat looked to River with a frown before heading off towards the others.

“What is it?” Rose questioned as Kat finally was able to see what had caught the Doctor’s eye.  
The red head frowned at the silver robotic head that looked to have handlebars attached to the sides of the head, unsure what to make of it. 

“An old friend of mine,” the Doctor said before he paused, “Well, enemy. The stuff of nightmares reduced to an exhibit,” he sighed, “I’m getting old.”

Kat raised an eyebrow at the Time Lord. He didn’t look that old to her. 

“Is that where the signals coming from?” Rose asked.

“No, it’s stone dead,” the Doctor replied, “The signal’s alive. Something’s reaching out, calling for help,” he continued as he slowly reached forwards with his hand and touched the display case.

Kat jumped when an alarm sounded before armed guards rushed into the room from all sides. All three of them raised their hands, Kat’s glancing at River as her heart raced.

“If someone’s collecting aliens, that makes you Exhibit A,” Rose muttered to the Doctor, causing Kat to look to them in alarm.

“Oh, yeah. I should have mentioned that the Doctor is an alien,” River said.

“No shit, Sherlock!” Kat exclaimed, utterly terrified out of her mind. Of all the paces she could have ended up, it just had to be in an alien museum with a living, breathing alien. 

The Doctor and Rose looked to Kat in confusion and the red head sighed.

 _What’s next? Killer aliens?_

\----

The trio were taken to an office where a young man was showing something to an older, balding man in a suit behind a desk.

“....see the tubes on the side? It must be to channel something. I think maybe fuel,” the younger man explained.

River snorted, causing Kat to glance at her with a raised eyebrow. The red head couldn’t help but wonder how River found this funny. *But then again, she is dead,* the red head mused.

“I really wouldn’t hold it like that,” the Doctor said, drawing Kat’s attention back on what was going on.

“Shut it,” a blonde told the Doctor. Goddard if Kat remembered correctly.

“Really, though, that’s wrong,” the Time Lord continued and the red head couldn’t help but wonder what his deal was.

“He’s always like this,” River said, her tone amused, “Always had a big ego.”

“Is it dangerous?” the young man asked curiously.

“No, it just looks silly,” the Time Lord told the man with a grin before reaching for the item.

Kat couldn’t help but jump when there was the sound of firing bolts clicking around her and the others. She glanced at River, taking clues of the older woman. Something was telling the red head that the spirit had dealt with stuff like this before.

The man sitting behind the desk raised his hand, stopping the guards from doing anything else before handing the Doctor the odd, curved object.

“You just need to be....” the Time Lord gently ran his fingers over the object and it made a note, “Delicate.” 

Kat watched him curiously as he continued to play several different notes, finding the man rather odd. 

“It’s a musical instrument,” the balding man remarked, eyeing the Doctor.

“And it’s a long way from home,” the Time Lord agreed with a nod.

“Here, let me,” the other man said before he stood up and snatched the instrument from the Doctor. He tried to play it, but the sound it produced caused Kat and a few of the others wince.

“I did say delicate,” the Doctor told the man, “It reacts to the smallest fingerprint. It needs precision.”

The man tried again, this time with a gentler touch and managed to make a few pleasant sounds.

“Very good. Quite the expert,” the Doctor remarked.

“As are you,” the man replied as he casually tossed the instrument aside, the Doctor and Kat’s eyes follow where it landed “Who exactly are you?”

“I’m the Doctor,” the Time Lord said as he looked back to the man, “Who exactly are you?”

“Like you don’t know,” the man replied, “We’re hidden away with the most valuable collection of extra-terrestrial artefacts in the world, and you just stumble in by mistake.”

“Pretty much sums me up, yeah,” the Doctor admitted.

“He’s not wrong, you know,” River said, gaining Kat’s attention and the red head glanced at her in confusion.

“The question is,” the man continued, “How did you get in? Fifty-three floors down, with your two cat burglar accomplices,” he looked to Rose, “You’re quite the collector yourself, she’s rather pretty,” the man raised an eyebrow at Kat, but otherwise didn’t comment when she glared at him.

“She’s going to smack you if you keep calling her she,” Rose shot back.

“She’s English too!” the man exclaimed as he looked to the younger man next to him, “Hey, Lord Fauntleroy. Got you a girlfriend.”

“This is Mister Henry Van Statten,” the younger man said.

“And who’s he when he’s at home?” Kat questioned, but was distracted when River poked her in the arm. She rubbed the spot as she frowned at the woman, trying to get her arm to not feel as though it was frozen. She raised an eyebrow, wondering what the spirit’s problem was.

“Don’t go with the Doctor,” River told the red head.

“What?” Kat asked at the same time Rose said, “Don’t be stupid. No one owns the internet.” 

Kat looked to Rose in confusion, wondering just what exactly, was going on.

“And let’s just keep the whole world thinking that way, right kids?” Van Statten said with a grin.

“So, you’re just about an expert in everything except the things in your museum,” the Doctor said, “Anything you don’t understand, you lock up.”

“And you claim greater knowledge?” Van Statten asked.

“I don’t need to make claims, I know how good I am,” the Time Lord retorted and Kat couldn’t help but glance to River with a look that clearly questioned what was happening.

“And yet, I captured you. Right next to the Cage,” Van Statten remarked, “What were you doing down there?”

“You tell me.”

“The cage contains my one living specimen,” the man remarked proudly.

“He has an alien for a pet?” Kat questioned River quietly, earning a look from one of the guards. The red head ignored it, having grown use to people thinking she was crazy. She guessed that she could be, though. She did talk with dead people.

River grimaced, “The worst kind.”

Kat’s face paled. “Please don’t tell me it’s the killer kind....” she asked, her voice wavering.

River didn’t say anything and Kat’s shoulders dropped as she looked back to the others. All she wanted to do was go home and sleep. Dead people, she could handle them any day. But after being thrown through strange vortexes and ending up in an alien museum with not one, but two aliens was far too much for the red head could handle.

“Show me,” the Time Lord said.

“You want to see it?” Van Statten asked the Time Lord.

“Blimey, you can smell the testosterone,” Rose muttered and Kat would have found the comment amusing, but she was busy trying to not freak out.

“Goddard, inform the Cage we’re heading down,” Van Statten started ordering, “You, English. Look after the girls. Go and canoodle or spoon or whatever it is you British do,” he told the younger man before turning towards the Doctor, “And you, Doctor with no name, come and see my pet.”

“Kat, come on,” River said as the others started to leave. 

The red head looked at her before nodding and following after Rose and the young man.

\----

“So, er, this killer alien....” Kat asked River quietly while Rose was talking with, uh, Adam?

“Dalek,” River corrected with a frown as she looked at some of the items in Adam’s workshop. “That’s a hairdryer,” she remarked, pointing to something.

“So....this Dalek,” Kat said slowly, gesturing for the blonde to continue, “What is it doing here?”

River frowned as she looked at Kat, “It’s being tortured,” she told the red head who gaped in shock, “Escaped a....war and crashed on Earth about fifty years ago.”

Kat nodded dumbly, unsure on what else to do. “And, the Doctor?” she questioned as she slowly started getting her mind working on what was happening.

“Well,” River smiled, “He’s the Doctor,” she finished with a shrug.

“And that tells me....nothing,” Kat drawled as she leant against a table. She let out a heavy breath as she glanced around before watching Rose talk with Adam.

“I’m gobsmacked, yeah,” Rose remarked as she looked over Adam’s table, “And you do what, sit here and catalogue it?”

“Best job in the world,” Adam replied.

“Imagine if you could get out there. Travel amongst the stars and see....”

“So, why are you here?” Kat asked as she turned back to River, not really interested in listening to whatever was happening over with Rose and Adam, and doing something familiar was somewhat calming.

“Well, I have some unfinished business,” River answered with a shrug, barely glancing at Kat.

“If you really do know me, you know that I don’t believe that bullshit,” Kat countered, “That’s not how it works. You came to me and haven’t left, which tells me you want something that only I can help you with.”

River raised an eyebrow as she looked at Kat, her expression rather thoughtful.

“Oh, right. You’re a genius,” Rose’s voice cut through Kat and River staring match, causing the red head to glance at the younger blonde. Kat missed River lip twitch upwards into a smile as something occurred to the curly haired spirit.

“Sorry, but yeah. I can’t help it. I was born clever,” Adam remarked with a shrug, “When I was eight, I logged onto the US Defence System. Nearly caused World War Three,” he continued, sounding rather proud.

“What?” Kat asked, rather aghast that someone would even think of doing something like that. “How could you be proud of doing something so stupid like that?”

Rose and Adam jumped in surprise by her voice, both having forgotten she was even there. 

The man looked to Kat with a frown before shrugging again, “Well, you should’ve been there just to see them running about. Fantastic!” he told her before turning his attention back to Rose a smile forming on his face.

“You sound like the Doctor,” Rose remarked.

“He’s kidding, right?” Kat asked River, only to find the woman frowning at Rose and Adam. 

She looked back at the pair, wondering what had caught the spirits attention. She was more attuned to reading peoples expressions over their words, especially when some of the spirits she had met over the years didn’t all communicate in English. The red head couldn’t help but wonder how odd the people at the orphanage she had grown up in thought she was when she started self-learning different languages. But she knew she couldn’t really tell them she was learning French, Italian, or even Russian because she wanted to understand what the spirits were trying to communicate with her.

“Are you and him?” Adam asked, glancing at Rose.

“No, we’re just friends,” Rose answered, though Kat could see and hear the hesitation in the younger blondes words.

“Good,” Adam said with a small smile, almost relieved.

Kat glanced at River, “Is he serious?” she whispered. River didn’t answer her, but the woman’s expression said it all. The spirit clearly didn’t like Adam....or even Rose, though Kat had no idea as to why. She eyed the older blonde for a second before looking back to Rose and Adam when the River just shook her head.

“....you rather be downstairs?” Rose asked Adam, “I mean, you’ve got these bits of metal stuff, but Mister Van Statten’s got a living creature down there.”

“Yeah. Yeah, well, I did ask,” Adam admitted, “But he keeps it to himself. Although, if you’re a genius, it doesn’t take long to patch through on the comm system.”

“Let’s have a look, then,” Rose said.

“Uh, is that a really good idea?” Kat questioned to both River and Rose, rather not wanting to even see the killer alien. Spirits were her specialty, not living, breathing aliens with a tendency to kill.  
“It doesn’t do much, the alien,” Adam told Kat snidely as he began trying to bring up the video of the Cage, “It’s weird. It’s kind of useless. It’s just like this great big pepper pot.”

Kat glanced to River in confusion, wondering how a pepper pot could be a killer, but was quickly drawn back to the computer screen when screaming sounded through the speakers. Her eyes widened in horror at the sight of the Dalek screaming as someone in a specialised suit was drilling into its casing.

“It’s being tortured!” Rose yelled in horror, “Where’s the Doctor?” she asked, knowing the Time Lord had gone down to have a look at the alien.

“I don’t know,” Adam replied.

Kat was still staring at the screen, her face pale as the Dalek continued to scream. She barely felt the cold touch of River as the spirit rested a hand on her shoulder. 

“Take me down there now,” Rose demanded, turning to Adam before noticing Kat was still transfixed on the screen. She frowned, unsure what to do before taking a step towards the red head and resting a hand on her shoulder. “Kat, are you okay?” she asked the woman. Rose removed her hand quickly, wondering if she had done something wrong when the red head jumped in surprise.

“I....” Kat frowned, glancing at River before shaking her head, “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“That’s good,” Rose replied with a tentative smile, “Do you want to stay up here and wait?” she asked, having noticed how scared the red head had been earlier when they had first met. Even to the point of having a panic attack. Rose’s eyebrows creased when the red head seemed to look away before shaking her head.

“No, I think I should come,” Kat told the blonde, frowning slightly at the thought. But River had told her she would be okay, and she guessed that staying with Rose would be a lot better than being left alone in a place she didn’t know.


	3. Trapped

“There is no way in the world I’m going in there,” Kat muttered as she stood in the doorway of the Cage. 

“No one said that you had to,” River remarked, glancing at the red head with a small smile.

Rose and Adam had stepped inside, but Kat had stopped the moment she had laid eyes on the alien. She had no idea why the sight of the giant pepper pot made her shiver, but she couldn’t stop herself. And glancing at River, she could see by the way the spirit was standing that her fear was founded. 

River looked stiff and ready to pull a weapon out as she eyed the Dalek, her face expressionless.

“Don’t get too close,” Adam told Rose as the blonde approached the Dalek.

Glancing one last time to River, Kat made a quick decision and slipped inside as the door closed. She had no idea what had crossed her mind and made her enter the Cage, but she already felt as though it was the most stupidest thing she had ever done.

Rose continued slowly towards the Dalek as she spoke, “Hello. Are you in pain?” she asked the alien, “My name’s Rose Tyler. I’ve got a friend, he can help. He’s called the Doctor. What’s your name?”

Kat stiffened as the blonde continued, noticing the slight twitch of the eyestalk when Rose mentioned the Doctor’s name. She looked back towards the door where River was standing, wanting to ask her if the Dalek knew the Doctor, but was drawn back to the alien when it spoke.

“Yes.”

“What?” Rose asked.

“I am in pain,” the Dalek told them and Kat couldn’t help but flinch at what it said next, having seen just how they tortured it. “They torture me, but still they fear me. Do you fear me?” it questioned Rose, its eyestalk moving to look at her.

“No,” Rose replied with a shake of her head.

The creature then turned to Kat, causing her to freeze on the spot. She felt River place a hand on her shoulder in comfort, but couldn’t help but wince when she was hit with an unintentional vison from the blonde.

_"For what?” River asked a man with green eyes and floppy brown hair._

_"Big_ _Bang Two!” the man told her, “Now listen-" he was cut off when he was shot by a laser._

_"Exterminate! Exterminate!” a Dalek screeched._

“You fear me, don’t you?” the Dalek asked Kat who swallowed hard, glancing at River who had dropped her hand and had taken a step away from the red head after realising what had happened. The Daleks eyestalk dropped when Kat didn’t respond. “I am dying,” it said.

It wasn’t as if Kat could respond. Whatever that vision was, it made her blood run cold at the screeching of the Dalek and she felt a though she couldn’t move, frightened that if she did, whatever she had seen then would happen now. What ever a Dalek was, whatever was inside that shell, it terrified her.

“No, we can help,” Rose told the Dalek.

“I welcome death,” the Dalek stated, though Kat jumped when she heard River scoff, “But I am glad that before I die I have met a human who was not afraid.”

“Isn’t there anything I can do?” Rose questioned the Dalek, her voice sorrowful.

“My race is dead, and I shall die alone,” the Dalek replied, its eyestalk looked away from Rose.

“Stop her,” River voice spoke up, causing Kat to jump again before noticing Rose was leaning towards the Dalek.

“Rose, no!” Adam shouted at the same time Kat moved towards the blonde, trying to stop her from touching the Dalek, but she was too late.

Rose jerked her hand away from the Dalek, leaving behind a golden handprint that quickly faded.

“What did she do?” Kat asked in a harsh whisper as she backed towards the door as the Dalek became more animated.

“Genetic material extrapolated. Initiate cellular reconstruction,” the Dalek screamed before breaking through the chains.

Kat yelped when the door opened behind her and she was quick to move out of the way as a man came in, carrying what looked to be the same drill the red head had seen earlier that had been used to torture the alien.

“What the hell have you done?” the man yelled at Rose as he approached the Dalek, only for the alien to raise its sucker arm. The man grinned, “What are you going to do? Sucker me to death?” he asked.

“Stupid question,” River said as she tried to get Kat to leave the room as the Dalek did just that. “Come on, Kat. You need to go.” 

The red head was frozen in fear, however. 

River sighed and decided that now was not the time to ask for permission and the next thing Kat knew was that she was moving.

\----

The moment River left Kat, the red head couldn’t even voice her annoyance of being possessed without her permission. Even as she felt her heart pounding in her chest and adrenaline coursing through her veins, the red head knew that the spirit had most likely just saved her life.

“Doctor, it’s all my fault,” Rose’s guilty voice brought Kat back to her senses and she realised that the blonde was talking to an image of the Doctor on a screen.

“I’ve sealed the compartment,” a guard told the Time Lord, “It can’t get out, that lock’s got a billion combinations.”

“Like that would stop it,” River scoffed as she kept an eye on the Cage door, causing Kat to do the same, though the red head was unsure what she was expecting to see.

 _"A Dalek’s a genius,”_ the Doctor told them, and Kat glanced at the screen, hearing his tone. _"It can calculate a thousand billion combinations in one second flat.”_

“Oh, that’s fucking wonderful,” Kat remarked as the door to the Cage slid open, only to cover her ears a moment later when one of the guards shouted, “Open fire!”

 _"Don't shoot it!”_ Van Statten’s voice was heard next, _"I want it unharmed.”_

“Are you fucking kidding me!” Kat exclaimed as she turned to the screen, glaring at the man before suddenly being pulled away by one of the guards.  
 _"Rose! Kat! Get out of there!”_ the Doctor shouted, though both women were standing frozen in fear as the Dalek retaliated and fired its laser.

“De Maggio, take the civilians and get them out alive,” a guard ordered, “That’s your job, got that?”

Maggio complied and turned to Rose, Kat and Adam. “You lot, with me!” she shouted as she left the room, grabbing Kat’s arm as she passed and breaking the red head from her shock as she stumbled.

Kat was quick to regain her balance and Maggio glanced at her before letting her arm go, seeing that Kat was moving on her own.

The trio followed after the guard and Kat couldn’t help but wince when she not only heard the screams of the other guards as the Dalek killed them, but she also saw the newly dead.

“Come on,” River urged her onwards, appearing beside the red head and taking her hand.

Kat didn’t say anything, but nodded to the curly-haired blonde as a tear rolled down her face. There was nothing she could do for the others, and she gripped River’s hand tightly, using the cold touch of the spirit to ground her just as she had done not half an hour earlier with the spirits presence when she had appeared in the desert before the barn.

\----

“Civilians!” Maggio shouted when the group appeared before a large group of armed guards, “Let them through!”

The four of them, with one spirit, ran passed the guards as one of them shouted, “Cover the north wall. Red division, maintain supressing fire along the perimeter. Blue division, argh!” the guard was cut off when the Dalek killed him.

“Don’t stop!” River told Kat when the red head started to turn towards the screams of the dying, “Just keep running, Kat,” she added, tugging the younger woman along.

It wasn’t long before the small group reached a staircase that led to the upper floors and Rose’s face lit up.

“Stairs!” she exclaimed, “That’s more like it. It hadn’t got legs. It’s stuck!” 

“Yeah, and I highly doubt that a advanced killer alien will be thwarted by something so primitive as stairs,” Kat snarked, unable to help herself.

“It’s coming!” Maggio told them, “Get up!” she added as she pushed Kat and Rose towards the stairs, though neither needed much persuading as they ran up without hesitation, closely followed by Adam and the guard.

Maggio, Rose and Adam stopped at the top of the first flight of stairs, causing Kat to pause in her ascend of the second flight as they looked back down at the approaching Dalek. She was quick to backtrack, not wanting to leave them behind. Though when she saw the Dalek, she couldn’t stop the shiver that ran down her spine when it stopped at the bottom of the stairs.

“Great big alien death machine defeated by a flight of stairs,” Adam gloated, which only resulted in Kat giving the back of his head a wack when River tried to do the same thing and failed.

He glared at her, though was distracted when Maggio spoke to the Dalek.

“Now listen to me,” the woman said, “I demand that you return to your cage. If you want to negotiate, then I can guarantee that Mister Van Statten will be willing to talk.”

“Doubtful,” River remarked as she stared at the Dalek and Kat wasn’t too sure if she liked the look that was on the spirits face.

“I accept that we imprisoned you and maybe that was wrong, but people have died, and that stops right now. The killing stops. Have you got that?” Maggio questioned the Dalek, although it didn’t respond, “I demand that you surrender. Is that clear?” she tried again.

The Dalek was silent, unmoving, before it spoke. “Elevate,” and it started to glide up the stairs towards them.

“Oh, my god!” Rose exclaimed, her face draining of colour as she watched, horrified as the Dalek ascended the stairs.

“Now she get’s it,” River muttered with an eye roll as Maggio turned to Adam.

“Adam, get them out of here,” she told the young man.

Kat shook her head, realising what the woman was going to do. “No, you’re coming with us,” she said, and before the woman could say anything, Kat had grabbed her hand and was already dragging her up the stairs.

She may be scared shitless, but there was no way Kat was going to let someone else die. 

If there was one thing the red head had learned over the years as she helped out the dead, it was life was never to be wasted. Sure, there was a strange honour in sacrificing oneself to protect others, but the red head had seen enough death to last her multiple lifetimes and if she could save just one life, she was going to do so.

\----

As the group rounded the corning that led to the loading bay, they froze in their tracks when they came face to face with a vast array of guns aimed in their direction.

“Hold your fire!” someone shouted from a catwalk , “De Maggio, get them the hell out of here!” he shouted, and the group wasted no time to do just that.

As they left the loading bay, Rose stopped when the Dalek entered and it turned it’s eyestalk towards her. Maggio thankfully dragged the blonde out of the loading bay, though the blonde once again paused when they were in the clear.

“It was looking at me,” she said, sounding rather startled and confused.

“Yeah, it wants to slaughter us,” Adam told her and Kat couldn’t help but look to River questionably when she noticed the spirit was still by the door that led to the loading bay.

“I know,” Rose continued, “But it was looking right at me.”

Adam shrugged, “So? It’s just a sort of metal eye thing. It’s looking all around,” he told her.

“I don’t know,” Rose sounded doubtful, “It’s like there’s something inside, looking at me, like, like it knows me.”

“Well, whether if it was looking at you or not,” Kat cut in, her gaze continuously been drawn to the loading bay, almost expecting the Dalek to appear at any moment, “But can we leave. I’m not to fond of sticking around to ask it.”

\----

“Perhaps it’s time for a new strategy,” Van Statten said after watching the Dalek effectively wipe out the guards that had been in the loading bay. “Maybe we should consider abandoning this place,” he added as he looked to the Doctor and Goddard.

“Except there’s no power to the helipad, _sir_ ,” Goddard informed her boss, her tone holding her disbelief and anger she was feeling towards the man, “We can’t get out.”

“You said we can seal the vault,” the Doctor said, looking to Van Statten who nodded.

“It was designed to be a bunker in the event of a nuclear war,” he told the Time Lord, “Steel bulkheads.”

“There’s not enough power,” Goddard stated, “Those bulkheads are massive.”

“We’ve got emergency power,” the Doctor said as he moved over to the computer, “We can re-route that to the bulkhead doors.”

“We’d have to bypass the security codes,” Goddard explained with a frown, “That would take a computer genius.”

“Good thing you’ve got me, then,” Van Statten said as he approached them.

“You want to help?” the Doctor asked as he looked to the human, disbelief written all over his face. The man, from the moment the Dalek had escaped, had been nothing but a hindrance, wanting to keep the Dalek alive.

“I don’t want to die, Doctor,” Van Statten admitted, “Simple as that. And nobody knows this software better than me.”

“Sir,” Goddard cut in, looking at the screen that was still showing the Dalek and the other’s turned towards it.

The Dalek was now back on the ground as it stared at the camera. _"I shall speak only to the Doctor,”_ it spoke and the Doctor stepped forwards.

“You’re going to get rusty,” the Time Lord remarked as he eyed the wet Dalek.

 _"I fed off the DNA of Rose Tyler,”_ the alien stated and the Doctor couldn’t help but feel disheartened at the knowledge that it had been his companion that had released it. _"Extrapolating the biomass of a time traveller regenerated me.”_

“What’s your next trick?” the Doctor asked, brushing his thoughts away. Rose had no idea what a Dalek was before today and had no idea that touching it would reanimate it, giving it a boost to repair itself. He couldn’t fault his companions compassion for trying to help someone who was injured.

 _"I have been searching for the Daleks,”_ the Dalek stated and the Doctor raised an eyebrow, already knowing that.

“Yeah, I saw,” he replied, “Downloading the internet. What did you find?”

 _"I scanned your satellites and radio telescopes,"_ the Dalek informed him.

“And?”

 _"Nothing,”_ the Dalek said, and the Doctor paused when the alien’s tone seemed to hold something he had never thought he’d encounter in a Dalek. Feelings. _"Where shall I get my orders now?”_ the Dalek questioned and the Doctor was quick to break from his shock.

“You’re just a soldier without commands,” he told the Dalek, wondering what else it might have absorbed from his companion.

_"Then I shall follow the Primary Order, the Dalek instinct to destroy, to conquer.”_

“What for?” the Doctor asked, “What’s the point? Don’t you see it’s all gone? Everything you were, everything you stood for.”

 _"Then what should I do?”_ the Dalek asked, and just for a moment, a single millisecond, the Doctor was once again surprised at the depth of emotion he could hear in the Daleks voice. 

It was gone as quick as it appeared however, as a different look appeared in the Doctor’s face. A darker look that appeared in his eyes. “All right, then,” he said as he straightened, “If you want orders, follow this one. Kill yourself.”

 _"The Daleks must survive!”_ the alien exclaimed, its voice screeching as its pitch rose.

“The Daleks have failed!” the Doctor shouted, taking a step towards the screen, “Why don’t you finish the job and make the Daleks extinct. Rid the universe of your filth. Why don’t you just die?!”

Goddard and Van Statten jumped at his words, hearing the venom and contempt behind each syllable that came from the Time Lords mouth.

The Doctor stood there, his chest rising and falling quickly as he waited for the Dalek to respond. 

It didn’t say anything for a moment, just seeming to stare at the Doctor before it spoke, and the Doctor felt as though his hearts had stopped.

_“You would make a good Dalek.”_

The screen went blank and the Doctor turned to Van Statten.

“Seal the Vault.”

\----

“Is this really the time to answer the phone?” Kat asked Rose in disbelief as the blonde pulled out her mobile as they headed up another flight of stairs.

They were running for their lives, not on some leisurely stroll.

“It’s the Doctor,” Rose said before answering the device, “This isn’t the best time,” she told the Time Lord.

 _"Where are you?”_ the Time Lord questioned and Rose glanced around.

“Level forty-nine,” she informed him when she spotted the level number on the wall of the staircase they were running up.

 _"You’ve got to keep moving,”_ he told his companion, _"The vault’s being sealed off up at level forty-six.”_

“Can’t you stop them from closing them?” the blonde questioned in alarm, causing Kat to glance at her with a frown.

“He’s closing the bulkhead,” River explained to her, knowing what she was about to ask.

“What?” Kat asked in alarm, looking to the spirit as her pace slowed in her shock.

“He cant let it escape. If the Dalek got out, there wouldn’t be anything to stop if from slaughtering its way across the universe.”

Kat swallowed at that information, glancing back towards the way they had come from. She could tell that the spirit wasn’t lying and when she looked back to River, the blonde’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Kat, what are you thinking?” River questioned, recognising the look that overcome the red heads face, but Kat didn’t answer her as she just continued running. “Kat?”

\----

“We’re almost there,” Rose informed the Doctor when they reached level forty-six, “Give us two seconds.”

River continued to glance at Kat as the red head silently followed after the others when a klaxon sounds and the bulkhead that lead out of level forty-six started to close.

“Come on!” Adam shouted as he pushed himself to run faster, Rose following right behind him before they rolled under the door. The blonde didn’t realise that she had lost her mobile in the process however, as Kat pushed Maggio towards the bulkhead right after them.

The moment Kat saw the others disappear under the bulkhead, she stopped in her tracks.

“What are you doing?” River exclaimed at the red head, her eyes wide in disbelief.

\----

“Rose, where are you?” the Doctor questioned through the phone the moment Van Statten informed him that the Vault had been sealed. “Rose, did you and Kat make it?” he asked again when he didn’t hear anything.

He frowned however, his eyebrows furrowing when it wasn’t Rose who he heard and it took him a moment to recognise the voice.

 _"You told me he couldn’t let it escape,”_ Kat’s voice sounded.

“Kat?” he called, hoping the woman could hear him.

 _"I know, but I couldn’t see anyone else die,”_ the red heads voice made the Doctor freeze.

“Kat, what did you do?” the Time Lord tried again, but the red head didn’t respond.

\----

_"Kat?”_ River heard the Doctor call from the mobile that was laying on the ground next to the bulkhead.

“Do you know what it’s like to see what I see everyday?” Kat asked the blonde, her eyes watering, “To wake up in the morning, only to be confronted by a four year old whom had been killed by his mother, or an innocent bystander in a car accident.”

River’s eyes softened as she looked to Kat and she shook her head. “No, I don’t,” she said quietly.

Kat managed a watery smile, “I’m sorry I won’t be able to help your friend,” she said, and River just shook her head.

“You’ve done far more than you realise, Kat,” River said with a warm smile.

Kat scoffed, despite her tears. “How?” she asked the spirit as she glanced towards where they had come, knowing the Dalek would be arriving at any moment.

“I got to see you again,” River replied, causing Kat to frown as she looked back to the spirit. River just shook her head though, not saying anything else.

“Keep your secrets, then,” Kat managed to say as the Dalek appeared.

“I’m sorry, Kat,” River said and it was Kat to shake her head this time.

“You have nothing to apologize for,” Kat said as she faced the Dalek.

“No,” River said, causing the red head to glance back at her in confusion, “I’m sorry about this,” she said, and the next thing Kat knew was darkness.

\----

“Kat!” the Doctor shouted through the phone, having no idea who she was talking with.

There was what sounded like a scuffle before he let out a relieved breath when he heard Kat’s voice, though he couldn’t help but notice that it sounded slightly different.

\----

River turned to the Dalek after having possessed Kat. 

She knew that what she was about to do was dangerous to not only her, but Kat as well. But there was no way that she was going to let Kat die. Not now, not ever.

“We meet again,” she said, eyeing the Dalek with nothing but disgust.

“Exterminate!” the Dalek cried, only for River to chuckle, confusing the alien.

“Oh, I don’t think so,” she said as Kat’s eyes bled gold, “Cause I won’t let you kill anyone else,” she continued as she approached the Dalek.

The Dalek rolled backwards and away from the red head as its laser arm twitched, but nothing happened. “What did you do?” it screeched, fear now seeping into its voice as River continued towards it.

“Oh, it’s just a little trick that my friend can do,” the spirit continued as she came to a stop right in front of the Dalek.

It tried to attack her with its sucker, but found that the arm wouldn’t move.

“They say that all living things have a soul,” River smirked as Kat’s hair darkened, the red turning pitch black, “Let’s see how true that is.”


	4. You Make A Better Doctor

"Kat!" the Doctor tried again as he shoved Goddard away from the computer she had been using and begun to try and get some sort of image up of what was happening.

The next words he head through the phone only caused him to work faster, as well as sent shivers down his spine.

 _"Mer-cy,"_ he heard the Dalek cry, follow by a dark chuckle from Kat.

 _"And why should I do that?"_ Kat asked, _"When you don't even know the concept of mercy."_

"Kat, what are you doing?" the Time Lord tried again as the lift doors opened and Maggio, Adam and Rose stepped out.

"Doctor, what's wrong?" Rose asked, seeing the Time Lord continuously trying to bring up an image of the vault.

He didn't reply, though he did pause at what he heard next.

 _"You are friends with the Doctor,"_ the Dalek tried again, and the Doctor couldn't help but frown when he heard Kat's reply.

_"I might be, but she isn't."_

He dropped the phone the moment the Dalek's screams could be heard, wondering what the woman was doing to have the Dalek begging for mercy. Never in his nine hundred years had he ever heard a Dalek beg for mercy, let alone from a human.

"Doctor," Statten broke the Time Lord from his thoughts and he turned to the man.

"What?" he snapped, only for the American to point at a screen.

"Oh, my God!" Rose exclaimed, her hand coving her mouth as she saw Kat, who now had black hair, standing before the Dalek as it screamed.

"What is she doing?" Adam asked.

"Shush!" the Doctor told them as he stepped forwards, his eyes locked onto Kat's image as she stepped away from the Dalek.

The Daleks eyestalk dropped, flickering out and Kat shook one of her hands, her face scrunched up in disgust.

 _"Oh, I can see why she doesn't like doing that,"_ the woman remarked before turning to the camera.

The humans in the office gasped, seeing her golden eyes, but the Doctor's eyes only narrowed as the mystery behind Katrina only grew.

 _"I don't know if you can hear me, Time Lord,"_ Kat said, _"But remember, you make a better Doctor."_

"Wh-what is she talking about?" Rose stuttered, looking to the Doctor, but the man didn't say anything as he continued to stare at the screen. "Doctor?" she asked hesitantly, reaching for the Time Lord's shoulder.

 _"Oh, and while I have time,"_ Kat continued, a small smile appearing on her face, _"Look after her for me."_

Before anyone could question what Kat was talking about, the woman suddenly collapsed.

"Doctor!" Rose called after the Time Lord as he hit a button to raise the bulkhead and rushed to the lift.

"What did she do?" Goddard asked quietly, staring at the image of the dead Dalek and the unconscious woman.

\----

River paced the med bay of the TARDIS, her eyes continuously going back to Kat as the Doctor tried to figure out what was wrong with her.

Kat still hadn't awoken, nor had her hair changed back to its normal red and black and the curly haired spirit couldn't help but worry, knowing that the ability she had used while possessing Kat was something she had always heard the red head refused to use, until _that_ day.

"Come on, Kat," River muttered as she approached the bed where the young woman lay, "Don't do this to me. Not again."

"She can't be just human," the Doctor muttered to himself as he checked his sonic for what felt like the hundredth time. He knew she couldn't be, not after what he had seen when he had reached her.

The Dalek had been dead and when the Doctor had tried to figure out how Kat had killed it, he had been surprised that there wasn't any cause of death. It was as if it had just, well, died. The Time Lord knew that the now blackette had done something to the Dalek, though he couldn't for the life of him figure out what.

Kat seemed to be in a coma, but her vitals where dangerously low and no matter what the Doctor did, he couldn't get them to rise to what was considered normal for a human. Even her body temperature was low, to the point that her skin felt cold to even his touch and if it wasn't for the beeping of the machine that checked her vitals, the Doctor would have thought the young woman was dead herself.

"What did you do?" the Time Lord questioned out loud and his eyebrows furrowed, remembering what she had said before collapsing.

There couldn't have been a way Kat had heard the Dalek speak with him, not while she had been running for her life. Nor could she had known what he was, having just met him.

So many questions circled the Doctor's mind and he let out a frustrated breath as he sat down on the seat beside the unconscious woman and although he wanted her to get better, a small part of him couldn't help but be suspicious of Kat. She had known things that she couldn't have about him and he wanted to question her to find out how.

He didn't hear River chuckle as she watched him, knowing how frustrating it would be for him not to know something before the spirit sat on the bed next to Kat.

"Doctor, how is she?" Rose asked tentatively from the doorway.

"I don't know," the Doctor grumbled as he ran a hand over his face.

\----

When Kat opened her eyes, she found herself staring at an unusual sight.

The red head glanced around, frowning when she realised that she was once again in the barn from earlier and the Warrior stood with his back to her.

"You wanted a big red button," a female's voice said and Kat walked around, only to stumble in surprise when her foot passed through a crate.

She looked around frantically, searching for anything to give her a clue as to what was happening, never have experienced anything like this before. Kat paused when she noticed a blonde standing near the Warrior, recognising her as Rose Tyler.

"Rose?" she asked, but the blonde didn't seem to hear her as she continued.

"One big bang, no more Time Lords. No more Daleks. Are you sure?" the Moment asked the Warrior, and Kat noticed that the box she had seen earlier now had a red, rose-like button protruding from the top of the box.

The red head frowned, wondering what she was witnessing and looked around in the hopes to see River, but the blonde wasn't there.

"I was sure when I came in here," the Warrior replied, "There is no other way."

"You've seen the men you will become," the Moment stated, causing Kat's eyebrows to furrow in confusion.

"Those men," the Warrior sighed before he frowned, "Does the pain ever go away?" he asked, looking to the Moment, having seen a pain and sadness in his future selves eyes before he shook his head. "Quite extraordinary," he muttered, wondering why they continued.

"They were you," the Moment said, and the Warrior shook his head once again.

"No. They are the Doctor," he told her as Kat frowned, wondering what they were talking about.

"You're the Doctor, too," the Moment replied.

"No," the Warrior said as he held his hand over the red button, "Great men are forged in fire. It is the privilege of lesser men to light the flame, whatever the cost." He went to press the button, but hesitated.

"You know the sound the TARDIS makes? That wheezing, groaning," the Moment said from where she sat, "That sound brings hope wherever it goes."

"Yes. Yes, I like to think it does," the Warrior agreed.

"To anyone who hears it, Doctor," the Moment continued, just as there was the faint sound of the time rotor, "Anyone, however lost."

The sound of the time rotor grew louder and Kat looked around, finding the sound familiar and her eyes widened when she saw two blue boxes appear.

"Even you," the Moment finished, just as the two TARDIS's landed and the Tenth Doctor and Eleventh stepped outside, along with River.

"I told you," River said as the three newcomers stopped before the Warrior, "He hasn't done it yet."

"Go away now, all of you. This is for me," the Warrior said, as the other two Doctor's looked around with a frown.

"These events should be time-locked" Ten muttered as his eyebrows raised, "We shouldn't even be here."

"So something let us through," Eleven agreed.

"You clever boys," the Moment said with a grin, but Kat noticed that the two men didn't seem to hear her.

"Go back," the Warrior continued to try and get them to leave, "Go back to your lives. Go and be the Doctor that I could never be. Make it worthwhile."

"All those years, burying you in my memory," Ten said as he looked at the Warrior.

"Pretending you didn't exist. Keeping you a secret, even from myself," Eleven joined in.

"Pretending you weren't the Doctor, when you were the Doctor more than anybody else," Ten continued.

"You were the Doctor on the day it wasn't possible to get it right."

"But this time."

"You don't have to do it alone," Eleven finished as he and Ten joined the Warrior in front of the Moment and placed their hands atop his above the button.

"Thank you," the Warrior told them.

River looked on, her eyes wide in disbelief at what she was seeing, while Kat was rather lost. The red head knew that whatever was happening, it seemed that it was an important moment for the Warrior, but she had no idea why, or even just how important this moment was for all three Time Lords.

"What we do today is not out of fear or hatred. It is done because there is no other way," Ten said as he looked to the Warrior and Eleven.

"And it is done in the name of the many lives we are failing to save," Eleven said, glancing to River, who only shook her head. He frowned and turned to her fully. "What? What is it? What?" he asked the blonde.

"Nothing," River replied with a frown.

"No, it's something. Tell me," Eleven demanded, wanting to know what was wrong with his companion.

"I've always know you wiped out your own people," River said quietly, though her frown only deepened, "I just. I never pictured you doing it, that's all."

"Take a closer look," the Moment said, although only Kat and the Warrior could hear her.

The red head's eyes widened in shock and surprise as she stumbled away from the group as it suddenly went dark before she found herself in what looked like a battle field.

"What's happening?" River asked as she slipped her blaster from its holster.

"Nothing," the Warrior replied as Kat slowly stood up, her eyes darting around as Daleks flew past, shooting at anything that moved, "It's a projection."

"It's a reality around you," the Moment corrected as she glanced at Kat, her eyebrows creasing slightly.

Kat gasped when she finally realised what she was seeing, and what the Doctor's were planning on doing.

"These are the people you're going to burn?" River asked aghast.

"There isn't anything we can do," Ten muttered as he looked around sadly.

"He's right," Eleven agreed, "There isn't another way. There never was. Either I destroy my own people, or let the universe burn."

"Look at you!" River exclaimed, trying to get them to see reason, "The three of you. The warrior, the hero, and you," she frowned at Eleven.

"And what am I?" Eleven asked as he looked at the blonde.

"Have you really forgotten?" River questioned him sadly.

"Yes," Eleven said, though he sounded unsure, lost, "Maybe, yes."

River looked between the three Time Lords, "We've got enough warriors," she said as she looked to the Warrior before looking to Ten, "And any old idiot can be a hero," she looked to Eleven.

"And what do I do?" he asked her.

"What you've always done," River told him, "Be a Doctor. Isn't that what Kat made you promise?"

The scene disappeared, and they all found themselves standing inside the barn once again, though the Moment's frown only deepened, realising that something was wrong.

Eleven stepped away from River, his expression unreadable.

"Something's wrong," the Moment muttered and the Warrior glanced at her, though his eyes widened when he saw the image of the Bad Wolf flicker and change. "This isn't right," she continued, though now she was a young woman with red hair with streaks of black, "Time's being rewritten."

River looked to Kat and walked towards her, causing the red head to take a step back, rather unsure as to what was happening.

"I'm sorry, Kat, but I can't let this happen," River said as she grabbed the woman's hand.

The same moment River was doing that, Ten shared a glance over the Moment's box with Eleven before they both pressed the button and suddenly there was a blinding light.

\----

The Doctor's eyes snapped open when he heard a large inhale and he looked to Kat. He was on his feet not a second later as he scanned her with his sonic, seeing that her condition was changing.

He glanced at the machine that was monitoring her vitals and almost sighed in relief as they started to return to normal, though when he looked back to Kat, the Time Lord frowned.

As he continued to watch on in disbelief and confusion, Kat's hair started to lighten, going back from black to red. His eyebrows creased slightly, wondering what or how she was doing it, or even if she knew.

The Doctor glanced at his sonic, seeing that it was telling him that she was fine and getting better from whatever had happened to have caused her to have been in this state.

River watched on from the opposite corner of the room as her face creased with pain. She placed her hand on the side of her head as she shook it, trying to get rid of the pain that lanced through it before a small smiled appeared on her face as she glanced at Kat, seeing her plan was succeeding as new memories flashed through her mind.


End file.
